Kentucky Derby 2009

[PonderInc]

OK, race fans (and I don't mean NASCAR)...It's almost Derby day, so it's time to start picking the ponies. 

Ever since the Wood Memorial, I've really liked a horse that totally screwed up...but came from dead last for an impressive win:  "I Want Revenge." 

Now, sadly, I noticed that Revenge, who was left standing flat-footed in the gate at the Wood Memorial, is considered the favorite!  Dang... I hate it when I like a horse and he becomes the favorite.

So now it's time to start thinking about the long-shots, the surprises, and the spoilers.  (Or to at least pick the cutest silks or horse with the best name...)

Thoughts?

[RecycleMichael]

I think it is great that Jenny Craig, the diet gal, has a horse running named Chocolate Candy.

Local sportscaster Al Jerkins brother James Jerkens is a trainer and has a horse named Quality Road in the race.

I haven't handicapped the race yet, but will on Friday. You can also bet at Fair Meadows on Friday and avoid the big crowds on Saturday.

[Conan71]

I think it is great that Jenny Craig, the diet gal, has a horse running named Chocolate Candy.

Local sportscaster Al Jerkins brother James Jerkens is a trainer and has a horse named Quality Road in the race.

I haven't handicapped the race yet, but will on Friday. You can also bet at Fair Meadows on Friday and avoid the big crowds on Saturday.

Does Warren or Oxley have a horse in the race this year?  I believe Big Al's dad was a trailer also.

[cannon_fodder]

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.

[RecycleMichael]

No. Neither of those well-known local horsemen have a pony in this year.

H. Allen Jerkins is a Hall of Fame trainer who beat Secretariat at the heighth of his career with a horse named Onion.  He also beat Man O'War with a horse named Upset. The trainer's nickname was "The Giant Killer".

[Wilbur]

I never follow horse racing until the day of the Derby, then we drink mint juleps!

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.

What the heck.

[Conan71]

What the heck.

He's talking about the goings on at his house when the Derby is on

[cannon_fodder]

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.

NO!  He's talking about a CLASSIC piece of literature.  The statement is a link.  Click on it, read, enjoy.

Gonzo Journalism at its finest. 

[edit] it's != its [/edit

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

LOL.  I did not notice it was a link.

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

I think "Pioneerof the Nile" looks like a good horse.  None of them seem to be Triple Crown contenders but you never know when one will surprise you.

[Conan71]

NO!  He's talking about a CLASSIC piece of literature.  The statement is a link.  Click on it, read, enjoy.

Gonzo Journalism at its finest. 

[edit] it's != its [/edit

Broken link when I tried it.

[cannon_fodder]

Try again, try harder:

http://www.chrudat.com/derby.html

The next day was heavy. With only thirty hours until post time I had no press credentials and--according to the sports editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal--no hope at all of getting any. Worse, I needed two sets: one for myself and another for Ralph Steadman, the English illustrator who was coming from London to do some Derby drawings. All I knew about him was that this was his first visit to the United States. And the more I pondered the fact, the more it gave me fear. How would he bear up under the heinous culture shock of being lifted out of London and plunged into the drunken mob scene at the Kentucky Derby? There was no way of knowing. Hopefully, he would arrive at least a day or so ahead, and give himself time to get acclimated. Maybe a few hours of peaceful sightseeing in the Bluegrass country around Lexington. My plan was to pick him up at the airport in the huge Pontiac Ballbuster I'd rented from a used-car salesman name Colonel Quick, then whisk him off to some peaceful setting that might remind him of England.

. . .

Beyond drink and lack of sleep, our only real problem at that point was the question of access to the clubhouse. Finally, we decided to go ahead and steal two passes, if necessary, rather than miss that part of the action. This was the last coherent decision we were able to make for the next forty-eight hours. From that point on--almost from the very moment we started out to the track--we lost all control of events and spent the rest of the weekend churning around in a sea of drunken horrors. My notes and recollections from Derby Day are somewhat scrambled.

Hunter S. Thompson, Scanlan's Monthly, vol. 1, no. 4, June 1970.

Well worth the read. 

[PepePeru]

a few years ago, watching the Kentucky Derby about to start, I say:

"I heard War Emblem is supposed to win this race." (friend read it on ESPN or something, told me about it)

If I remember correctly it was a 20-1 shot.

Sure enough, that nag came in.  Everyone at the table looked at me and asked if I put money down? 

Of course not.



Realistically, at most, I would have won 400 bucks.  In hindsight, of course I would have bet the farm.

[RecycleMichael]

Made my bets...

Played Friesen Fire (6) to win and place. Played Pioneerof the Nile (16) to win and place. Played them in an exacta box.

Went in with friends ($30 a piece) and played a six horse trifecta box of those two with the early favorite I Want Revenge (13), and these three longshots, Advice (4) at 30 to 1, Regal Ransom (10) at 30 to 1, and Desert Party (19) at 15 to 1.